I like that styling, but man, that would be uncomfortable. No rear shocks, insufficient front damping, it would handle rough and make you sore! And. . .you'd probably have to service it yourself to be sure it's done right, and you'd have a heck of a time finding parts.

There are a few models that harken back to fifties and sixties in the Softail line, the Heritage and the Fat Boy for instance. And in the Sportster line there's the 48, which I wish was a slightly bigger bike, as I love its styling, but it's not good for two person riding (my girlfriend rides with me sometimes) and I'm just a bit too tall and big for it. It's less comfortable on road trips as well, and I do like to go on long trips. My friend David has a Nightster, very similar bike in the Sportster line, and I love the sound and look of it. I've ridden his a bit and I confess, I like the ride of my Fat Bob a lot better. I'm not in my twenties or thirties any longer!

Nowadays all the bikes are wired with headlights always on, as a safety feature. You'd have to rewire the headlight entirely to get any sort of on-off switch.

The real bonus to the new Harleys is the motor. Fuel-injected, chip-controlled, 1600 cc, STRONG, exciting. (The Sportsters all have 1200 cc engines, most of the Touring models have slightly larger engines than the 1600 cc). The transmission has a sixth gear that is a fantastic overdrive, you can cruise from 50 to 90 all day in that one gear with lots of throttle to do whatever you wish.

The FXDF that I have, the "Fat Bob" really suits my needs. If I were able to take long trips five or six times a year or more I would probably go for a Road Glide, which is very similar to my Fat Bob but has a fairing and is built for even more comfort. What I really like about this one is that the fairing is mounted on the frame, not the forks, it handles better as a result (I've test-ridden a few of the models). I love how well you can control this bike wth the throttle and the gears, hardly have to brake if you're paying attention and no one is threatening you.

Anyway, it took me a little while to get my feet and heart back into the riding game, but it's there now. Still don't own a car. Don't feel the need.

I would like to build one like that using the S&S 93 inch Knucklehead replica motor. The leaf spring Indians have always appealed to me too. More the 1930s models than the twenties. When they changed to the fat tires and extra wide fender skirts in the forties, I lost interest.

That looks "nice" but it also looks very underpowered and unwieldy and uncomfortable for today's roads, speed limits and for my style of riding.

I can enjoy looking at old bikes but I really love the technology of today and its application to motorcycles. Then again my needs are different: for long periods of my history and possibly into the future my motorcycles have been my only means of transportation and I enjoy long hours in the saddle. (I've been as much as fourteen hours on my bike in one day.)

:D then you want a modern bike, with shocks fore and aft and a good seat.

Just drove to Dallas and back to see a friend of mine play tenor in a nice octet setting at a nice bar and grille. Was so much fun, and surprisingly the temperature dropped about fifteen degrees on the way home as a rain front had come through, but I only had a bit of drizzle.

It was a good three hours of jazz. My friend Jim Sangrey played some amazing tenor. And there was a very nice vocalist, Sandra Kay, who sounded a lot like Dinah Washington.

It's so good to hear real instruments in the air. It's really the only standard to judge reproduced music, and it never hurts to be reacquainted with real sound when you spend as much time listening to reproduced sound as I do.